At the ongoing Penguin India’s Spring Fever Literature Festival, the sixth day saw columnist and television presenter Sunil Sethi discuss the joys and pains of writing with authors Rahul Bhattacharya and Anjum Hasan at the India Habitat Centre here.
The authors talked about writing and the “sensations” they have when they hold the pen or stare at the blank computer screen.
A sports writer who regularly contributes to various media organisations, Rahul played his first inning in the literary world with a cricket tour book Pundits from Pakistan and followed its success with his first and recently published fictional work The Sly Company of People Who Care. Rahul chose to read out excerpts from Pundits and spoke about the inspiration and the reason for setting the plot of Sly Company in Guyana.
He said, “I had been to Guyana when I was very young, like 22. Everything about it, from its people, the landscape, to the sounds, had an ethereal effect on me. In my book, I wanted to explore the theme of displacement, migration and as I worked my way through it I felt more intimately about the poignancy of the place.”
The evening also saw the launch of Anjum’s collection of short stories titled Difficult Pleasures. Bengaluru-based Anjum’s writing primarily deals with the idea of disjuncture and a certain disconnect.
Anjum also read excerpts from the last story of her collection.